


Hot Damn

by DollyPop



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Bikini - Freeform, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Sunburns, back rub, fun in the sun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-13 08:39:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4515261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DollyPop/pseuds/DollyPop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You probably won’t want to wear a shirt for a little while, honestly,” she said, looking over the bright red of his sunburn.</p>
<p>“If you want me, Marie, there’s no need to use such coy tactics.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hot Damn

Regardless of popular belief, there were a multitude of things that could hurt Doctor Franken Stein. Enemies aplenty, for one, but for another: he had an acute sensitivity to ibuprofen, was allergic to bees, and, that which was at the forefront of his mind, was paler than almost all of the company he kept, and most of the company he didn’t, now that he thought about it.

It was his lack of melanin that was the cause of his current ailment. Well, that coupled with the fact that when your buxom, blonde partner shows up in a bikini and tells you she’s going to the beach and ‘Do you want to come?’ you say ‘Yes’. Or, at least, Franken Stein said yes, and then proceeded to spend a full day in sunlight, already a miracle in and of itself, without the protection of his usual turtleneck, lab coat, or long, heavy pants.

He was absolutely not grumbling while he sat in his chair, back turned so Marie could liberally apply aloe. At least when he began to peel, he could collect some more skin samples, though he doubts they’d be useful or viable. Still, it was fascinating to try to remove the layer in one fell swoop and revealing the newer flesh beneath. Marie’s hands left his back, and he assumed she was done, as she’d been working for a rather decent length of time, already. He looked behind him, and only got an eyeful of the woman in question shaking her head and cutting open another leaf. Her singular eye met his gaze, and she raised a delicate brow.

“I offered you sunblock,” was all she said before she stepped forward and added more of the plant-based balm over his shoulders, which were an angry, burning red color. He’d bypassed pink, probably only a few minutes out of the safety of the car.

“I applied sunblock,” he assured, truthfully.

“Yeah, once. We were outside for over eight hours!”

He knew that. He also knew that Spirit teased him for a good 2 hours after he applied the sunscreen the first time, especially when Marie offered to get his back and then pulled, as Spirit called it, “the classic ‘can you rub it on mine, too?’” “trick”. How that was a “trick” he’d never know, but Spirit was someone he didn’t necessarily want to understand the thought process of.

Frankly, Marie was efficient at the task and rather thorough, which he appreciated. He was certain she spent longer working the sun protection into his skin than was absolutely necessary. Which wouldn’t be a problem were they not in the company of what Marie was fond of referring to as “their friends”. Had he known Marie was going with Azusa, Spirit, Mira, and Sid, he would have requested to remain in the lab. Or, rather, he wouldn’t have agreed to her so willingly.

Though, now that he thinks about it, she probably did mention it when she first stepped into his room in her yellow and black two-piece. He was a little hazy on the details, if he was honest. Must have been the sun-damage.

Marie sighed from behind him, smoothing her palms in a soothing manner down his spine. The aloe was sufficiently cooling, but he could feel her wavelength working, as well, relaxing him further. He rolled a shoulder and she dug her thumb in, almost instinctively, to ease a knot around the area.

She coughed, immediately retreating. He’d turned his head back around, but he didn’t even have to look at her this time to know what expression she was making. Her soul felt taut and jumpy, slightly embarrassed. Likely, she hadn’t meant to turn the act into something resembling more of a massage.

“Well, that’s that,” she began, thankful he kept his eyes facing forward. “You probably won’t wanna wear a shirt for a little bit, honestly.”

He certainly didn’t escape the little trip unscathed, and sleeping would probably be a pain, that night. He usually preferred to sit facing the back of his chair, which was good since if he sat like people usually did, he’d be in some pain. She’d dealt with burns rather often while she was stationed at Oceania. Marie learned a long time ago that the sun would boil her and most people alive if they didn’t apply SPF 50 sporadically and diligently throughout the day. She thought Stein of all people would know such a thing, considering he lived in Nevada most of his life and was a doctor: she figured that was why he was always so covered up. Which was a shame, really.

The guy had a surprising set of abs for such a thin, tall looking man. It shouldn’t have surprised her, though. She was his partner: she knew just how hard he trained and how strong he was, but she didn’t have many moments where she got to see the results of that labor so explicitly. Honestly, she didn’t know why he wore that turtleneck. It made him look bulkier than he was and it didn’t offer any real benefit under his lab-coat.

Of course she wasn’t ogling. Please. As if Marie Mjolnir would ever check out Franken Stein, of all people. Not her. Why would she? It wasn’t like she thought he was attractive, or anything. She was simply busy looking over him to make sure she’d covered all of the burns evenly and was taking note of rather glaring, platonic details. That was all. Really. Actually, now that she thought about it, his back wasn’t bad, either. She bit her lip as she continued looking. Arms, too, wow, no wonder he could pick her up without a problem. And his-

“If you want me, there’s no need to be so coy about it,” he said, finally looking over his shoulder to peer at her quickly flushing face.

She moved without thinking about it, going on the instinct of knowing and punishing Spirit for his stupid comments. She simply reached forward, thwacking Stein heavily on the shoulder. Her hand-print showed white on his reddened flesh before it reverted back to the delightfully cherry hue he’d taken on. What she did hit her after the fact, when she watched his face contort for a moment before he wriggled uncomfortably.

She felt guilty for a second, but then simply huffed: it served him right. Besides, he’d had worse. He was a big boy, he could take it.

“Marie!” he complained, raising a palm to sooth the sting. He sounded rather whiny, if she were being genuine about it all.

“You’ve been spending too much time with Spirit,” she replied, scrunching her lips over to the side.

“So have you, it seems. That reaction time was seamless,” he grumbled, dropping his hand back to his lap. His eyes had shifted to look over his “injury” when she’d smacked him, but then he lifted his gaze to look back at her. Despite himself, and despite what happened barely a minute in the past that warned him against any more smartass responses, he couldn’t help but note the warm flush over Marie’s face at his accusation of wanting him. It seemed there certainly was a grain of truth in it, then, as he’d suspected. His facial scar twisted when he smirked.

“Marie, did you know you’re flushing rather pink? Sunburned as well?” he asked, smirk widening when she blushed deeper, the color coming down her neck when the understanding of what he was implying settled. He knew as well as she did that she was just sun kissed from being out, surfing and getting into water fights and being dunked, multiple times, by the giraffe-heighted men that tagged along.

The matching smack to his other shoulder was worth it, though.

Pink was a good color on her.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm in too deep


End file.
